C'est La Vegan » Videoshttp://www.cestlavegan.com
Vegan Entertaining, Baking & Everyday FoodSun, 22 Feb 2015 21:37:11 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1Quick Noodles with Kale & Tofuhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/12/quick-noodles-with-kale-tofu/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/12/quick-noodles-with-kale-tofu/#commentsTue, 20 Dec 2011 23:11:18 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=8224If you’re anything like me, you spend many a night standing in front of the cabinets or fridge trying to figure out what the heck to make for dinner. After a long day, the last thing I want to do is cook, but you can only have cereal for dinner so many nights before it gets really old.

Ryan and I have a few go-to meals for nights like these, and Quick Noodles with Kale & Tofu is one of our favorites. It’s easy to sub whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand, it comes together in no time, and it’s really nourishing. Most importantly though, it tastes fantastic!

Feel free to make this your own by substituting your favorite greens, adding other veggies, changing up the sauce or even the protein that you use. If you’re not a fan of pre-baked tofu, you can of course marinate your own, or use tempeh or seitan in its place. And feel free to use whatever noodles you like best. I’ve also used ramen and soba, but I find that I like somen the best in this dish.

For this version, I use a sauce that’s just slightly adapted from “The Vegan Table” by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (a really great cookbook that I highly recommend.) I’ve adjusted the amounts of each ingredient to my taste, and feel free to do the same once you make this.

While the water is boiling, trim the kale, cut or tear it into bite-sized pieces, and give it a good wash. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce by combining the peanut butter, sugar, lime juice, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in a medium-sized bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste, and set aside.

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Dice up the tofu, and toss it into the pan. Saute it until the pieces are golden and crispy. Set aside.

By now your water should be boiling. Add the kale and boil it for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the somen noodles and boil for 2 minutes more, or until they’re cooked through. Drain the kale and noodles in a strainer, and return them to the pot. Add your sauce, and toss to coat the kale and noodles. Add the tofu, and gently toss to distribute it. Serve immediately, and refrigerate any left-overs.

Notes: Use whatever tofu flavor you like best – I used teriyaki for this. You could also use crunchy peanut butter for a bit more texture. This will work with any kind of noodles. You can even use angel hair or spaghetti – just make sure to adjust the boiling time in accordance with the kale. I give a range for the amount of sugar to use, and I’ve made this using both more and less. It’s up to you how much to add, and I think it tastes great either way. I used Shoyu for this, which I find to be stronger than soy sauce. If you use a low-sodium soy sauce you may need to add a bit more.

]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/12/quick-noodles-with-kale-tofu/feed/33C’est La Video: Green Smoothiehttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/12/cest-la-video-green-smoothie/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/12/cest-la-video-green-smoothie/#commentsSun, 18 Dec 2011 20:19:53 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=6605I’ve been wanting to do a post about green smoothies for a while, and I was way overdue for shooting a new video, so I figured I’d tackle both at once! With the New Year upon us and so many people making resolutions to eat a more healthy diet, I thought I’d show you guys how I make my favorite green smoothie.

Before I do that, I want to give you a little background and more information about green smoothies. Ryan and I have been making breakfast smoothies for years, but we used to only add a bit of spinach. I was talking with a customer about this last spring, and she recommended I check out the book Green for Life. I really enjoyed the book, and it inspired me to get more creative with the greens I added to my smoothies. I starting using dandelion greens, romaine, parsley, mint, tatsoi, beet greens and kale, to name just a few.

For three or four weeks I followed the recipes in Green for Life until I felt I had a pretty good grasp of the amounts to use, as well as an idea of the combinations of fruit and veg that I like best. The main thing I took away from the book was to make sure to vary the fruit and greens that you use, which was really easy for me to do over the summer since there’s such an abundance of seasonal fruit available.

The smoothie I make in this video is one of my favorites, and it’s the one I’ve been making most often lately. Some other versions I really like are romaine with frozen pineapple and mango, or beet greens with frozen strawberries and fresh oranges. Speaking of oranges, they’re great with just about everything, and they’re particularly yummy with grapes (and any greens). If you use oranges just cut off the peel, cut them in half and toss them into your blender.

Another thing you might want add is some flax meal or oil, which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and I like adding a vegan protein powder as well. I usually only add cocoa powder if I’m adding berries or only using bananas (which are also tasty with a bit of cinnamon), and if you want your smoothie to be totally raw you could use raw cacao powder instead.

I normally use a Vitamix blender for my smoothies, and I do think that a high-speed blender is best for these. The greens really get pulverized, as do any seeds in the fruit. That being said, a Vitamix blender is pricey. We’d already burned through two blenders that were both pretty high quality when we decided to take the plunge and get a Vitamix, and we got a refurbished model that was much less expensive than the brand new models. If you do a lot of blending, I think a Vitamix is definitely worth the investment.

If you want to learn more about making green smoothies and all the health benefits they provide, Green for Life is a great starting point, and there’s also an abundance of information about them online. The main thing I tell people is to not be afraid to experiment so that you can find what you like best. If they taste terrible to you, you’re not going to drink them. For example, I know that kale is one of the best greens to use for these, but it’s really hard for me to get a smoothie down that has kale in it, so I don’t use it as much as other greens.

I hope that this video and post are helpful to you and that you’ll try making your own green smoothies (if you’re not already!). They really are a great addition to your diet, and if you drink them regularly, you’ll definitely feel the benefits!

As you can see from the video above, I’m a huge fan of Earth Balance buttery spread. It’s a great substitute for butter, and so much better for you. If you’re a skeptic, I challenge you to give it a try, and with today’s give-away that just got a lot easier! One lucky winner will receive 3 coupons good for any Earth Balance product of your choice.

The Earth Balance product line has been expanding to include options like soy milk (and nog!), mayo, peanut butter and coconut spread, so there are lots of options for you to try. And once you get your coupons and pick up your products, you can use them to make something yummy to enter in the Earth Balance Holiday Bake-Off Contest.

To enter today’s give-away, just leave a comment telling me what products you’d like to try and what you’d make with them. The contest is open to U.S. residents only and will close Tuesday, December 13th at 9pm PST. You can increase your chances of winning by following C’est La Vegan on twitter, and by “liking” C’est La Vegan on facebook. Make sure you leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry, and don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the next give-away. Good luck!

Do you guys know about Meatless Mondays? If you’re one of my non-vegan readers, you may not have heard of this campaign, but it’s becoming more and more mainstream, and now even Oprah is in on it. I’ve been wanting to start a Meatless Monday feature on the blog for a while now, and I’m excited to kick the whole thing off with a brand new C’est La Video!

You may be on board with the idea of going meatless one day a week, but if you’re anything like I was before I became vegetarian, you hear the world “meatless” and imagine a day of carrot sticks for lunch and a boring salad for dinner. Even with the best of intentions, if you don’t know what to eat, you’re just not going to stick with it.

Add to that the fact that most of us are busy people, and we don’t always have a ton of time to spend in the kitchen at the end of a long work day. If you’re intimidated by vegetarian food, you’re even less likely to want to cook, and you’re already writing off Meatless Mondays before even giving them a shot.

I want to show you guys that you can have a great meal that will be familiar to you and your family, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time and work. I promise you that no one will miss the meat, and even though this meal uses some pre-made products, it’s so much better for you than its non-vegan counterpart.

Is it better to make everything from scratch? Of course it is, but you certainly don’t have to. Using pre-made products can be a huge help, and I want to make sure you don’t have any excuses for not going meatless on Mondays! There are plenty of great all-natural products out there, so just make sure to read those ingredient lists and choose high-quality pre-made foods.

This meal is less of a recipe and more of an assembly. If I don’t have my favorite garlic bread spread in the fridge, I use the method shown in the video to make some Speedy Garlic Bread. It’s really tasty, and couldn’t be easier to make. Use a baguette, ciabatta, or whatever kind of bread you like best.

My favorite recipe for marinara sauce is also really easy to make, but some nights it’s just easier to open a jar. Who’s with me? Just make sure the pre-made sauce is meat and dairy free. And don’t forget to include some veggies to round out this meal. Some roasted or sauteed broccoli or asparagus would be tasty, but you could also serve a simple side salad like I do in the video.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. While the water comes up to a boil, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Once the pot is heated, add the meatless crumbles and saute. If they stick to the bottom of the pot, deglaze it with your liquid of choice (I like using red wine.) Once the crumbles are heated through, add the marinara sauce to the pot, and give it all a good stir. Cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally.

Once the pasta water is boiling, add a generous “pinch” of salt and the pasta. Give it a stir, and boil according to the package directions. Once the pasta is al dente, strain it and add it to the pot with the sauce, stirring well. Serve with Speedy Garlic bread (recipe follows.)

Toast, broil or grill the bread. Cut the top off of the garlic clove, and rub the cut end on the hot bread. Spread with margarine, and sprinkle with the vegan Parmesan.

Notes: You can use different pasta shapes if you’d prefer, but I like how the shells hold the “meat” sauce. Don’t worry about using the exact same size jar of sauce – just use something close to that size so that you have enough sauce to coat all the pasta. If you can’t find Boca Crumbles feel free to use another brand, or you could even cut up a couple veggie burgers. Just make sure to check the ingredients for dairy or eggs.

]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/11/cest-la-video-pasta-with-meat-sauce-speedy-garlic-bread/feed/10Herbivore and Food Fight! Give-Awayhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/09/herbivore-and-food-fight-give-away/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/09/herbivore-and-food-fight-give-away/#commentsThu, 08 Sep 2011 17:52:55 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=8376UPDATE: The winner of the Food Fight! tote bag is Angela, who said… “I have been dreaming of visiting Portland for years, moreso every time I hear of awesome vegan places there (like Herbivore and Food Fight!) I think I might have to hit up the doughnuts first!”

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And the winner of the necklace from Herbivore is Ariel, who said… “I want to experience the early autumn weather in Portland – feel the dry warmth just before the rain sets in. Cozying up to a soy latte in Red&Black Café (near the vegan strip mall) would be one of my favourite things to do.”

Before heading up to Portland for Vida Vegan Con, our friends Jason and Marion loaned us the show Portlandia, which we’d been dying to see. Needless to say, we absolutely loved it, but we were pretty big Fred Armisen fans to begin with. So during our trip Ryan decided to shoot his own “Ode to Portland(ia)”, which I’m excited to share with you guys. He tried to feature a lot of the vegan and vegan-friendly businesses that we visited, but we unfortunately didn’t have time to hit them all. All the more reason to go back!

In honor of our recent trip I thought it would be fun to do a give-away for you guys that features a couple amazing Portland-based companies – Herbivore and Food Fight!. Food Fight! has offered one winner their choice of tote bag, so even if you can’t get to this vegan mecca in Portland, you can still carry a piece of it with you. Another winner will get one of these awesome necklaces from Herbivore, which I have to say I’m pretty jealous of.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about Portland (if you’ve been there), or what you’d look forward to doing if you could visit (if you haven’t been there). You can increase your chances of winning by following C’est La Vegan on twitter and liking the C’est La Vegan facebook page. Just make sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry. The contest will close a week from today, Thursday, September 15th at 9:00pm PST. Good luck!

]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/09/herbivore-and-food-fight-give-away/feed/93Time for Baby Power!http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/08/time-for-baby-power/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/08/time-for-baby-power/#commentsSun, 07 Aug 2011 20:00:37 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=8403Our friends, Jason and Marion, have been going through a really rough time with their newborn son, Clayton. Little Clay had open heart surgery a couple weeks ago, and he just went through another surgery yesterday to have a pace-maker installed.

It’s been a pretty emotional roller coaster ride for his parents (to say the least). In the midst of all this, one of their friends posted a photo with the sign “Baby Power”, and the whole thing snowballed into tons of friends and family posting “Baby Power” photos on Facebook featuring their own kids, their pets or themselves. Ryan was inspired to cut this video together for Jason and Marion, and I can’t even watch it anymore because I cry every single time!

As our community is greatly comprised of comedians, I hope some of their efforts have kept Jason and Marion laughing through the tears. Most of all, I know they’ve felt the love and support of their community as we’re all pulling for a full recovery for little Clayton. I wanted to write about this here so that we can generate even more baby power for the little guy, and I hope you guys will keep Clayton, his big brother Wes, and his parents in your thoughts and prayers. Baby Power!

And a little Batman power never hurt either, at least if you ask my nephews!

]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2011/08/time-for-baby-power/feed/3Vegan 101: Marshmallowshttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-marshmallows/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-marshmallows/#commentsSun, 29 Aug 2010 22:42:05 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=5155This edition of C’est La Video takes us to the Angeles National Forest for a vegan s’mores filled camping trip, which means it’s the perfect time to talk about vegan marshmallows! It might seem strange to think that something like a marshmallow wouldn’t be vegan, but they normally contain gelatin, which is far from being even vegetarian. Behold, this tasty quote from wikipedia -

“Gelatin is a protein produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the boiled bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, pigs, and horses.”

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Thankfully there are some really delicious gelatin-free marshmallow options out there from company’s like Suzanne’s Specialties, Chicago Soydairy and Sweet & Sara, which you’ll see me talk about in the video. If you don’t believe me when I tell you that they taste even better than their non-vegan counterparts (or if you already love them), I’m thrilled to tell you that now you’ll have a chance to try them yourself!

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Thanks to the generosity of Chicago Soy Dairy and Sweet & Sara, four lucky readers (yes, FOUR!) are going to win some tasty treats! Here’s are the prize details — 2 winners will each win two bags of Dandies from Chicago Soydairy. 1 winner will win Sweet & Sara vanilla marshmallows and a peanut butter s’more, and another winner will get a Sweet & Sara sampler pack and a plain s’more. Yum!!!

All you have to do is leave a comment here by Wednesday September 8th and I’ll randomly select four winners to ship the products to. If you want to double your chances to will all four prizes, “like” C’est La Vegan on facebook and leave us a comment that you have. You can triple your chances by following C’est La Vegan on twitter as well. (If you already follow us on facebook or twitter, just mention that in your comment). And if you want to increase your chances to win Dandies, “Like” the Chicago Soy Dairy facebook page and mention in your comment that you did.

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UPDATE – The winners have been picked using a random number generator app for the iPhone. I’ve already sent them all emails, but wanted to announce the names here as well. Without further ado…

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The Sweet & Sara vanilla marshmallows and a peanut butter s’more go to Allison, who commented “I follow you on Twitter, like you on Facebook, and also like Chicago Soy Dairy (and Sweet & Sara, for that matter!) on Facebook

The Sweet & Sara sampler pack and a plain s’more go to theegglesstort, who commented “I would LOVE to have some vegan marshamallows!! I follow on twitter and liked you and Chicago Soy Dairy on Facebook as well “

2 bags of Dandies go to Grace, who commented “I love Dandies and I like Chicago Soy Dairy on Facebook and now I like C’est la Vegan as well. Sweet & Sara marshmallows aren’t bad either, but Dandies are a better value.”

2 bags of Dandies go to Sarah Beth, who commented “Vegan smores would be better if I could find a good gluten free graham cracker.”

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]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-marshmallows/feed/114Vegan 101: Veggie Brothhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-veggie-broth/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-veggie-broth/#commentsMon, 23 Aug 2010 17:06:11 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=5141This installment of Vegan 101 is all about vegetable broth, which I know might not sound that exciting, but bear with me here. I love vegetable broth because it has the power to turn a chicken broth-laden dish into one that’s totally vegetarian. For us veg-heads, that’s pretty exciting!

Even if you’re not vegetarian, you can make this one tiny change – from meat broth to veggie broth – and make your meals so much healthier. The best part is that you don’t have to sacrifice any flavor in the process. Lower cholesterol and great taste? Yep. It’s true.

Are you a vegetarian who’s dealt with the “Oh you can eat it, I only used chicken BROTH” issue? Or do you have a favorite brand of pre-made broth that I didn’t mention in the video? Leave a comment and let me know!

]]>http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-veggie-broth/feed/9Vegan 101: Vegenaisehttp://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-vegenaise/
http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/08/vegan-101-vegenaise/#commentsWed, 18 Aug 2010 18:05:58 +0000kimhttp://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=5072For today’s installment of Vegan 101, I want to introduce you to one of the greatest vegan products out there: Follow Your Heart’sVegenaise! If you’re vegan, you probably already love this stuff, and if you’re not, you need to try it to taste for yourself how amazing it is. I like the reduced fat version, mainly because I eat a lot of this stuff. I think it tastes just as good as the regular versions, but there are lots of different types of Vegenaise out there for you to try if the reduced fat isn’t your thing.

Trust me when I tell you that it’ll do you right for all your mayo needs. This stuff is amazing in dips and sandwiches, particularly this delicious vegan BLT featuring the tempeh bacon I showed you in the last video.

Guys, go get an heirloom tomato while they’re still in season and make one of these sandwiches! It’s easy, it’s tasty, and it’s a BLT that’s actually GOOD for you and totally free of cholesterol. Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too – what’s the point of cake if you aren’t going to eat it?! C’mon now.

The next installment in my Vegan 101 series is all about one of my past loves – bacon. I’d go as far as calling myself a former addict, but these smokey tempeh strips get me through the cravings without having to eat the Babe stuff. There are a lot of good reasons to not eat bacon, and they all mean more to me than the bacon itself. For all my bacon-addicted brothers and sisters out there, I want to let you know about what I eat instead, and believe me, when it comes to bacon, I know what I’m talking about here.